An Interlude to a Walk
by DreamerInVain
Summary: "They were deliberately dancing around each other".


Hi everyone.

This is my first venture into the world of fan fiction. Well, I do have another vignette stashed somewhere on my computer but it just doesn't sound and feel the way it should so I'm trying to rewrite it in a way that is all my own. And that one was the first thing I wrote.

You'll probably skip the disclaimer part and spoilers because we all know the show and the characters belong to Chris Carter and 1013 Productions and Fox and yada yada yada.

Oh, the spoilers: no episode is mentioned explicitly except maybe All Things, and that is questionable.

I hope you'll enjoy my creation and review because I'm always up for some constructive criticism.

An Interlude to a Walk

Dana Scully remembered a time when she was a child and what Ahab used to tell her about emotional vulnerability: "Never show them they got to you Starbuck. Emotionality is a weakness, and they will break you." This sentence stuck with her throughout all of these years: throughout medical school, her Quantico training, her work in the FBI.

Her whole life was spent fighting away prejudice and the image of a woman undesirable in the law enforcement. Little did she know what lay in her path when she met her new partner.

When she was first assigned to one Fox Mulder, and yes, instantly founding him handsome and attractive, albeit in an objective way, his intensity and behavior left her questioning the man's sanity. Nevertheless, she soon realized, during their first case, the show he put on when she first entered his basement office was just an exaggerated act meant to scare her away. He was a loner and he wanted to stay that way. After the mosquito bites incident and his heartfelt confession of his sister's disappearance, nothing was ever to be the same.

Sometime after they became best friends, willing to sacrifice themselves for each other, willing to do everything and anything if need be to save one another. She often wondered how did one come that far. They developed a bond many marveled and many frowned at. They even pegged them as secret lovers soon after they became partners. She sometimes wondered if the world, the people were truly so petty they couldn't understand true devotion and friendship. Yes, they were wrong about them being involved sexually, but the secret her heart held was she did fall in love with her partner, the joke of the Bureau.

Oh, for the longest time she denied it to herself as well, refusing to acknowledge to why she acted the way she did in certain situations – his passing interest in some of the women they'd come across or the times when she thought she lost or might lose him forever. The intensity of the feelings was too great for mere friendship, and yet, if she didn't name them, they weren't real. She didn't know what was worse- denial or acceptance.

They were different in so many ways, and yet that made them stronger. They complemented each other in ways nobody else could. There were times, very early in their partnership, when she was still thinking of finding herself a good husband, starting a family, leaving the FBI and leading a normal life. These thoughts would invade her throughout the years and in those instances her rebellious side would take charge. Those were the times that put their partnership and friendship on shaky grounds. However, Fox Mulder was in no position to cast stones either. His stubbornness and mindless desire to find his sister and uncover the conspiracy they fought against tested their relationship as well.

As much as she was certain her feelings were reciprocated, some of his actions would at times leave her in serious doubt and she would feel forgotten, unappreciated and belittled.

They were deliberately dancing around each other, but not any more, Dana Scully decided with a small smile.

Folding the quilt blanket and putting it across the arm of the sofa, she padded barefoot, heart beating wildly, to Fox Mulder's bedroom.

It was time to end the endless dance and begin a slow walk. Together.


End file.
